“You don’t choose the iPhone, the iPhone chooses you.”
I take no credit for
finally owning this spectacular piece of breath-taking craft. This was destined
to happen ever since Steve Jobs conceived the very idea inside his head and was only
a matter of time before my wish list met Apple’s viewpoint. It's only ironic
that it was the man's philosophy of "one-handed use (of phone)" that
had kept buyers like me at bay for so long.
Circa
2013, already spoiled by the giant displays of the ubiquitous android
phones, I was dreading the very idea of sizing down to a smaller handset, in
case I did opt for a full-fledged plunge into the Apple-ecosystem, iPhone being
the only device missing from my collection. And I was hoping, Apple would
notice the visible shift in user-interest towards larger screens. My hope
didn't last long. Unperturbed by market expectations, Apple went ahead and
released yet another 4 inch phone, the iPhone 5s. Frustrated, dismayed and
disgruntled at Apple’s adamant fixation on beautiful yet tiny screen devices, I
had all but resigned to my fate of spending an entire life-time without ever
owning an iPhone. (Refer my last post “The man who never had an iPhone”).
Things finally changed last
fall. Apple at last decided to play the catch up game and I got what I wanted.
While both iPhone and iPhone plus were large enough, I went as big as I could
and got myself the iPhone 6 Plus. Today, after a period of over ten blissful
months with my prized possession, I have come to a conclusion that unless they
tell me their new phone could teleport me to another planet, I’ve got no reason
to look beyond what I have got.
Bewildered by the numerous technical reviews splashed all over
the web, many people I know, were looking for an unbiased view of a layman
iPhone user, so here I’m, capturing my
first few months’ experience with the best piece of gadget that I have ever
owned, thus far. And I’ve owned quite a few of them.
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| The retina display |
So what do I like about
this iPhone so much? Well, pretty much everything. Having used the top-notch
Galaxy S series and the Xperia Z series and the Galaxy Note series and the
not-so-premium Nokia series and the erstwhile Ericsson series, I can tell you
that none of the above experiences come even close to that of holding and
fiddling and caressing an iPhone. It feels sleek yet sturdy in your hand with
the all metal aesthetics oozing class. The rounded edges and the trademark
seamless glass-metal transition completes the visual treat. Fire up the screen
and you are greeted with that ever so familiar retina display that presents you
the world on your palm in crystal clear clarity. Well, I am aware that iPhone
has only 401 ppi (1920X1080) compared to Sony Xperia Z5 that boasts of a
whopping 806 ppi (3840X2160), but who needs 4K resolution on a tiny screen?
Being an AV enthusiast, even after so many years I’m yet to notice lack of
those extra pixels in my giant 55 inch screen HD TV, in naked eye that is,
leave alone a tiny 5.5 inch phone.
(N.B. For the record - if
my family is reading this - I’m not messing with our bank account or bedroom
space by getting that 65 inch 4K TV, so please don’t worry. If at all that
happens, it would be a case of the 4K TV choosing me and not the other way
round. And like always I would claim no credit for that either.)
Coming to the 8-megapixel
camera, compared with those 13, 16 and 23 megapixel ones sported by rival
manufacturers, don’t fool yourselves, I’m yet to see a phone that captures
better picture than the iPhone 6 plus. Well, the iPhone 6S and 6S plus are set
to debut with 13 mega pixel cameras, if the rumor mills are to be believed,
but that alone doesn’t justify an upgrade as of now.
When I first started using
iPad it had brought about a paradigm shift in how I looked at internet
browsing. So much so that I almost stopped using my laptop or computer
altogether, unless it was for off-line stuffs. Here was an all-in-one device
that kept me abreast of news, entertainment, social media and to a large extent
even books & magazines. It became an integral part of my day-to-day life.
This was also the time when I was using my large screen android smart phones,
which undoubtedly i liked. But none of these devices came even close to
threatening my iPad, primarily due to the unbelievably smooth experience that
IOS provided, the classy Apple hardware being the icing on the cake. The sheer
joy of zipping through web pages, apps and games on a neat interface is
something that no android device has ever achieved. Hence I would always use my
iPad for all purpose except when I wanted to make a call. But when I was not
carrying my iPad my android phones would do just fine albeit that inevitable
scaled down feel of their comparatively scratchy interface.
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| My kid examining the iPhone & the iPad |
But all that changed the
moment I got my iPhone 6 plus. It effortlessly carried out all the tasks that
were hitherto shared jointly by my iPad and my Xperia Z & Galaxy Note and
before I realized, it quickly slipped into the slot of being my No.1 device.
Now, any gadget that has the ability to make my iPad gather dust on my shelf
has to be pretty special. Mind you, here we are talking about the new iPad
Air 2 - I had upgraded to this iteration immediately after getting my iPhone
more out of curiosity than necessity (also to match the gold color of my
iPhone) - and not any other 1st generation random tab. Need I say more?
To round things off, my
iPhone provides me close to two days of battery life. That's commendable, given
the heavy duty user that I am - the only exception being the absence of my
official mails in there - It allows me to effortlessly stream YouTube to my
Giant LG web OS screen, to watch a movie from the comfort of my
couch, albeit the one-time effort of setting up a Plex server that streams my
huge digital media library and last but not the least, to shoot amazing photos leaving my digital point
and shoot camera almost worthless.
Contrary to popular belief,
an iPhone is nothing about status symbol, neither is it a gadget that you would
go around displaying with unabashed pride - that is reserved for Samsung with
all those funky party tricks - For me it’s about making myself comfortable, content
and blissful. It has blended so well into my life that I can’t even remember
what it was like when I didn’t have one.
And my final words on
owning the iPhone? Here you go!
“You don’t own the iPhone,
the iPhone owns you.”
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